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About USU

The mission of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences is to educate, train, and comprehensively prepare uniformed services health professionals, scientists, and leaders to support the Military and Public Health Systems, the National Security and National Defense Strategies of the United States, and the readiness of our Uniformed Services.

Academics

Since our first graduating class in 1982, the USU's MDs. Nurses and graduates in biomedical sciences provide exceptional service through service in the U.S. Military and civilian careers of distinction. Today, America's Medical School has 691 enrolled students and 5,043 graduates. Over 1,300 graduates in Biomedical Sciences lead aggressive research in medical research. Today's 663 graduates of the School of Nursing blend science, research and field training in advanced practice and PhD degrees. The USU's Postgraduate Dental College provides advanced degree's to the military's dental community, graduating 72 students since establishment.

Research At USU

The University's research program covers a range of clinical and other topics important to both the military and public health. Infectious diseases, trauma medicine, health maintenance, and cancer are areas of particular strength. Researchers are also making important new efforts in state-of-the-art fields that cut across disciplines, such as genomics, proteomics, and drug-delivery mechanisms.

Centers

USU is home to many different Centers and Institutes, which help advance the university's research, education and public service missions. Faculty members and students collaborate with other leading experts at USU's Centers and Institutes on projects that push incredible boundaries across manifold disciplines of biomedical science. Their work is shaping military medicine and world health in many positive, powerful ways.

Military At USU

The USU's military unique curriculum is supported by military professions from all services who teach USU's military and civilian students. All military personnel are supported by the USU Brigade, the Brigade staff are managed by the Military Personnel Office.

AFRRI At USU

AFRRI mission is to preserve the health and performance of U.S. military personnel and to protect humankind through research that advances understanding of the effects of ionizing radiation.

To these ends, the institute collaboratively researches the biological effects of ionizing radiation and provides medical training and emergency response to manage incidents related to radiation exposure.

Profile

Since the discovery of synaptic plasticity as the cellular correlate of learning and memory, strong overlaps between neural and cellular substrates of learning, drug addiction and stress-related disorders have been recognized. Yet it remains a major challenge to identify the neural circuits and synaptic mechanisms contributing to abnormalities in dopamine signaling induced by addictive drugs and adverse early life experiences. The major focus of my laboratory is the elucidation of synaptic mechanisms underlying reward learning, drug addiction and neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, with particular emphasis on the midbrain dopamine system originating from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and its control by the lateral habenula (LHb). Research in our laboratory also explores effects of severe early life stress on synaptic transmission and plasticity of distinct VTA dopamine circuits to identify the neural circuits and molecular mechanisms contributing to abnormalities in dopamine signaling induced by adverse early life experiences. To achieve these goals, we use a combination of immunohistochemical, biochemical, epigenetic, electrophysiological and behavioral techniques. We expect that identifying novel epigenetic mechanisms in the regulation of synaptic plasticity and memory formation in midbrain dopamine circuits will point to new directions in pharmacotherapy for drug addiction and stress-related disorders.

Selected Publications

Authement M.E., Langlois, L. D., Shepard R.D., Browne C.A., Lucki L., Kassis H., Nugent F.S., A role for corticotrophin releasing factor signaling in the lateral habenula and its modulation by early life stress, Science Signaling, 11(520) (2018), Featured as the cover story